Can-capping machine



(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. VAN KANNEL. (JAN GAPPING MACHINE.

No. 512,073. Patented Jan. 2, 1894.

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(No Model.) 5 sheets sheet 2,

T. VAN KANNEL. CAN GAPPING MACHINE.

N0.512,073. Patented-Jan-2,1894.

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(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

- T. VAN KANNEL.

CAN GAPPING MACHINE.

Patented Jan. Z

CLU.

(No Model.) 4 5 Sheet-Sheet T. VA N-KANNEL.

GAN GAPPING MAGHINE.

' ij'Patn ted Jan. 2,1894.

flu/0x11301- i .T/maphlzw Vamlefamw 1 he's Jitter ya THEOPHILUS VANKANNEL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAN CAPPING MACHIN E.

EPECIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,073, dated January2, 1894.

Application filed January 9, 1893. Serial No. 457,81 (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEOPHILUS VAN KAN- NEL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain Improvements in Can -Oapping Machines, of which the following isa specification.

My invention comprises certain details in the construction of a cancapping machine as fully described and specifically claimed hereinafter,the purpose of my invention being to provide simple mechanism forpresenting the sets or groups of cans in succession to the cappingirons, to insure accuracy in the action of the capping irons upon thesolder, and to provide for the effective heating of the capping irons.

In the accompanying drawingsz-Figure 1, is a longitudinal section,partly in elevation, of a can capping machine constructed in accordancewith my invention. Fig. 2, is a front view of the machine, looking inthe direction of the arrow, Fig. 1. Fig. 3, is a plan view of themachine. plan view on the line l-2, Fig. 1. Fig. 5, is a plan view ofpart of the tray supporting and feeding devices; and Figs. 6 to 11inclusive are views on an eulargedscale and representing parts of themachine.

One of the opposite end frames 1 of themachine has bearings for a shaft2 upon the inner end of which is secured a structure, which,

in the present instance, constitutes a combined cam and crank, saidstructure comprising a disk 3 with cam flange 4 projecting from one faceof the same, the disk also having a crank pin 5 as shown in Fig. 1.

Upon cross bars 6 on the main frame 1 are mounted and secured traysupporting frames or bars 7, the outer ends of which are provided withslots 8, for the reception of bolts 9, which can be adjusted to and froin the slots and can be securedin position after adjustment by suitablenuts 10 (see Fig. 3). These bolts serve as pivots for tray lifters 11and 12, the lifter 11, in the present instance,

comprising a pair of arms, and the lifter 12 consisting of a plate orshell having on its under side a bracket 13, carrying anantifrictionroller 14, which is acted upon by the Fig. 4, is a sectional outer faceof the cam flange et so as to impart a rising and falling movement tothe inner portion of the lifter 12, the latter being furnished at itsopposite sides with lugs 15 for bearing upon the under sides of the armsconstituting the lifter 11 and thereby providing for jointoperation ofboth lifters. These lugs 15 are adjustable vertically, as shown in Fig.

7, so that the position of the litter 11 in respect to the lifter 12 maybe regulated in order that the can carrying tray, when elevated by thelifters, will be exactly level. Each of the lifters has, at its innerend, lugs 16, and the upward movement of each lifter carries said lugsabove the pivotal plane of the lifters, so that they have a tendency toapproach each other and thus properly center the tray. Hence no greatdegree of care need be observed when the tray is first pushed onto thelifters, the latter, in elevating the tray, at the same time centeringthe same and adjusting the cans to proper position beneath the cappingirons.

The slots 8, to which the pivot bolts 9 of the lifters are adapted,provide for moving either lifter in one direction or the other, so as toproperly adapt it for the performance of the centering operation beforedescribed. For instance, the pivot bolts may be permitted to slide inthe slots while the lifters are being elevated, the tray being thenadjusted so as to bring the cans directlyunder the capping irons and thelifters then moved so as to'bring their lugs 16 into contact with thetray, the pivot bolts being then secured in position in the slots.

To a bracket on one of the cross bars 6 of the frame is hungalever 17which has, at the outer end, pendent weights l8, and at the inner end anantitriction roller 19, which runs in contact with the inner face of thecam I flange 4.. This weigh ted lever thus serves as a counterbalance,the weights falling when the lifters are raised, and being elevated whenthelit'ters are descending, so that the lever' 3 tends to assist the camwhen the latter is subjected to the strain of lifting the cans, andexercises a retarding influence on the cam while the cans are beinglowered and while their weight would otherwise be exerted to move thecam forward. Uniformity of action of the cam is thus insured and thepower required to rotate the shaft 2 is likewise uniform, this being ofespecial importance in hand operated machines where it is advisable thatno materially greater power be required to run the machine at one timethan at another.

Each of the can carrying trays has recesses for receiving two transverserows of cans, one of these recesses being offset in respect to the otherto the extent of about half the diameter of a can, as shown in Figs. 3and 4, so that the centers of the cans of one row are midway between thecenters of the cans of the other row, this arrangement permitting thedisposal of the cans so as to lessen the width of the tray as comparedwith a tray in which the cans of the two rows are center to center, thearrangement also permitting a closer arrangement of the capping ironsand tending to compactness in the general structure of the machine.

The trays are deposited upon the supporting frames or bars, in advanceof the structure carrying the capping irons and are moved forward ontothe overlapping portions of the lifters when the latter are in theirlowest position, suitable curved guides 80 at the sides of the machineserving to laterally center the trays as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The forward movement is imparted to the trays by means of the devicesbest shown in Figs. 1 and 2. These devices comprise a swinging arm 21,hung to a suitable pivot rod 22 at the base of the machine, and carryingat the upper end a pivoted pawl 23 which, in the present instance, is inthe form of a broad convex plate so that it can be drawn back beneaththe tray without risk of catching upon any part of the same, or willpermit the shoving of the tray over it without any such likelihood ofcatching upon the tray.

Mounted upon the arm 21 at a point below the pawl 23 is a slide 24,which is secured to the arm by means of a bolt 25 adapted to a slot 26in the arm, and to the lower end of this slide is pivoted a block 27through which passes the threaded end of a rod 28 the other end of whichis adapted to the crank pin 5 formed upon the cam disk 3. By adjustingthe slide 24, therefore, the point of action of the rod 28 can be movednearer to or farther from the fulcrum of the arm 21 and the throw of thetray feeding pawl 23 can be accurately regulated, while the position ofthe pawl, at the extremities of its throw, can be varied as desired bymanipulating nuts 29 which are adapted to the threaded portion of therod 28 and bear upon the opposite sides of the block 27. The pawl 23has, at one end, a boss 30 to which is adapted a set screw 31, contactof the head of the latter with the arm 21 limiting the upward movementof the acting end of the pawl so that by the adjustment of said screw 31the position of the acting end of the pawl in respect to the tray can beproperly determined.

As shown in Fig. 1,the arm 21 is only partially retracted and the pawl23 is being drawn back beneath the tray 20 which rests upon the supports7, but when the arm 21 has been fully retracted the pawl will be clearof the tray and its front end will rise so as to engage with the rearedge of the tray on the forward movement of the arm 21, and thus pushsaid trayinto position beneath the capping irons, the preceding traybeing pushed out of the way.

At the upper end of the fixed frame are two cross bars 32 each of whichserves to carry one row of capping irons and its adjunctive devices,these being precisely the same for each row. Hence it will be necessaryto describe but one of them.

To the bar 32 is secured by means of bolts 33 a series of tubular shells34 enlarged at their lower ends so as to form hoods for the reception ofthe capping irons or steels 35 each of these tubular shells having anupper bearing 36 and a lower bearing 37 for the cappingiron spindle 38to which the capping iron is rigidly secured in any suitable manner,preferably by means of one or more transverse bolts 39, as shown inFigs. 1 and 6.

To the lower edge of the enlarged hood on each of the tubular shells 34is also secured a guide plate 40,having an opening in which the cappingiron has a very slight play, said enlarged hood of each shell 34 alsohaving, at the outer side, an opening closed by a bulging door or cover41, pivoted at its lower edge, so that it can be swung outward anddownward sufficiently to permitaccess to the capping iron, this doorhaving an opening for the reception of the nozzle 42 which supplies thegas, or mixture of air and gas, for heating the capping iron, eachnozzle being provided with a screw valve 44 at the'outer end, so thatthe gas entering the nozzle at the outer end will fill the same andissue in a broad sheet from the inner end of the nozzle, whereas if thecontrolling valve was located at the discharge end of the nozzle itwould serve to contract the stream of gas at that point and cause it toissue in the form of a fine and forcible jet, which would not only havea tendency to blow out readily, but would not be as effective forheating purposes as a broad or thick jet issuing with less velocity.

The hood formed on each shell 34 for incasing the capping iron isprovided at its inner end with an outlet 45 for the waste products ofcombustion, these waste products escaping into a chamber formed withinan inverted U-shaped casing 46 which contains pipes 47, thegas beingcompelled to pass through these pipes before it can gain access to thepipes 43 for supplying the nozzles, and hence being subjected to aheating action which improves its burning quality, espe- .IIO

cially if, as is sometimes the case, the flow of gas is induced by asteam jet, the superheater having the efiect of drying or decomposingthe steam so that it adds to instead of detracting from thecombustibility of the gas.

The waste products of combustion may escape from the chamber within thecasing 46 through outlets suitably disposed as for instance through endoutlets 48, as shown-in Fig. 3.

The expanded lower portion orhood of each shell 34 has secured to it aseries of depending fingers 50, three of these being shown on each hoodin the present instance, and the inner faces of these fingers areslightly beveled, as shown in Fig. 6, so that when a can is liftedbeneath the capping iron the fingers will, by contact with the upperedge of the can, serve to accurately center the same andinsure thebringing of the groove with its solder strip directly beneath thecapping iron and hence prevent any defect in the soldering caused byimproper registry of the capping iron and can.

The bars 32 are secured to the side frames of the machine by means ofbolts 51 adapted to slots 52 at the ends of said bars so that the lattermay be adjusted toward and from each other to suit the diameter of thecans to be acted upon, the securing bolt 33 for each of the shells 34being likewise adapted to a slot 53 in the bar 32 in order to providefor a change in the distance from center to center of the capping ironsin each row for a like purpose.

Minor adjustments of the individual capping irons are effected by meansof a pin 54 adapted to an opening in the top of the expanded lowerportion or hood of the shell 34 this pin being secured by means of a nut55 to a transverse bar 56 forming part of the fixed frame, the openingformed in said bar for the reception ofthe pin, however, being somewhatlarger in diameter than said pin, so as to provide for movement of thelatter in any direction, while free expansion and contraction of theshell 34 in a vertical direction is permitted owing to the fact that thepin 54 exercises no vertical control over said shell.

The spindle 38 of each of the capping irons is hollow so as to providefor the passage of the usual cap holding rod 57, which is provided atits upper end with a weight 58 secured thereto by a set screw 59, and,secured by a like set screw 60 to the upper end of each of the cappingiron spindles, is a sprocket wheel 61, which is adapted to engage with alink belt or chain 62 passing at one end of the machine round asprocketwheel 63 on a vertical shaft 64, and at the opposite end of the machineround an idler pulley 65 turning on a stud 66 which projects from abracket 67 on the fixed frame.

Vertical adjustment of either of the capping irons is readily providedfor by slackening the set screw which secures it to the sprocket wheel,the latter having its bearing upon the upper end of the shell 34.

It will be observed that each of the capping irons and its shellisadjustable independently of either of the others and yet all of thebearings for each row of capping irons and their spindles are in onestructure adjustable as a unit so that no adjustment of either cappingiron can interfere with the proper alignment of the various bearings.

The independent adjustment of each of the capping irons and its shell orcasing provides for the proper adjustment of the capping irons to thecans after the machine has been heated up to the required degree and theparts are fully expanded, thus overcoming the objection to machines inwhich the capping iron casings are not independent of each other. 4

Upon each of the bars 32 is formed a chain guide 68 which serves to keepthe drive chain in proper engagement with the sprocket wheels 61.

The vertical shaft 64 is provided at the lower end with a bevel wheel 70(Figs. 2 and 4) which meshes with a like bevel wheel 71 loosely mountedupon the horizontal shaft 2 of the machine, and secured to said shaft,

some distance beyond the bevel wheel 71, is a disk 72, and between thewheel and disk is located a crank handle 73, which is adapted to turnloosely on the shaft 2 and carries two pawls 74 and 75 projected bymeans of an interposed spring 76, as shown in Fig. 8.

On the outer face of the bevel wheel 71 is formed a beveled projection77 having an abrupt shoulder facing in one direction, and on the innerface of the disk 72 is formed a beveled rojection 78 having an abruptshoulder facing in the opposite direction. Hence, when the handle 73 isturned in one direction, the pawl 74 will engage with the abrupt end ofthe shoulder on the bevel wheel 71 and the movement of the handle willbe imparted to said wheel, the other pawl 75 slipping over the beveledprojection of the disk 72 when the handle is moved in this direction, sothat no movement is imparted to said disk or to the shaft 2. When thehandle is turned in the opposite direction, however, the conditions arereversed and the shaft 2 will berotated, the bevelwheels 70 and 71 andshaft 64 remaining stationary. In operating the machine, therefore, oneturn of the handle will cause the feeding forward, centering, andlifting of a tray of cans so as to present the latter properly to thecapping irons, and a reverse movement of the handle will then causerotation of the capping irons, which may be continued as long asdesired, the cans remaining in the elevated position as long as thehandle is turned in this direction. On then again turning the handle inthe opposite direction the tray with its capped cans is lowered andpushed forward from the lifters by means of the next advancing tray,which is lifted in turn.

In order to prevent the lifters from catching upon the'tray of cappedcans as well as to provide for a slight farther forward movement of thesame, the inner ends of the arms constituting the lifter 11 are beveledas shown in Fig. 1, so that, as said lifter is raised, the action ofthese beveled ends upon the tray of capped cans will serve to move saidtray forward on the supporting frames or bars 7 and will prevent anytripping or catching of said tray by the lifters.

It will be observed on reference to Figs. 6 and 11 that each of thecapping irons instead of having a continuous V-shaped lower edge orflange, as usual, has this flange flattened or removed throughout aboutone-third of the circle.

The short segments of solder which are placed in the grooves of the cansare so disposed that when the cans are brought under the action of thecapping irons, these segments Will be beneath the flattened portions ofthe irons. Hence there will not only be no tendency of the iron todisplace the segment from the groove, but there will also be a largersurface of the iron for bearing upon the segment, and consequently amore rapid melting of the same than if it was subjected to the action ofthe usual V-shaped edge of the iron.

Owing to the clutching mechanism which I have just described the cappingirons do not begin to rotate for a short time after the cans have beenlifted into position, even if the 0peratin g handle is immediatelyreversed, when the cans have reached this position. Hence sufficienttime is afforded for the melting of the solder by the capping ironsbefore the latter commence to rotate so as to distribute the meltedsolder throughout the groove in the top of the can. It may be advisablein some cases, however, to permit a slight dwell in the movement of thehandle before changing the direction of rotation of the same in order topositively insure the melting of the solder before the rotation of thecapping irons.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Pa ent--.

1. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of liftersoverlapping each other so as to act upon opposite portions of a cantray, and means for operating said lifters, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of liftersoverlapping each other so as to act upon opposite portions of a cantray, and each provided with lugs for engaging the tray, with means forhanging and operating said lifters so that their tray-engaging ends willapproach each other as they are raised, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of liftersoverlapping each other and having lugs so as to engage with the oppositeedges of a can tray, means for operating said lifters, and adjustablefulcrum pins for the lifters, substantially as specified.

4. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of' liftersoverlapping each other so as to act upon opposite portions of a cantray, a cam for imparting movement to one of said lifters, andprojections on said lifter engaging with the overlapping portions of theother lifter so as to transmit movement thereto, substantially asspecified.

5. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of liftersoverlapping each other so as to act upon opposite portions of a cantray, means for raising and lowering one of said lifters, projections onsaid positively actuated lifter for engaging with the overlappingportions of the other lifter and means for adjusting said projections,substantially as specified.

6. The combination, in a can capping machine, of tray lifting devices, acounterbalance lever, and a duplex cam, one portion of which acts uponthe tray lifting devices, and another portion upon the counterbalance1ever, whereby the strains upon the cam are equalized, substantially asspecified.

7. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a pair of tray liftersoverlapping each other so as' to act upon opposite portions of the tray,a tray feeder, and means for operating said feeder and lifters from thesame driving shaft, substantially as specified.

8. The combination in a can capping machine, of tray lifters, a trayfeeder, a cam for actuating said tray lifters, and a crank pin foractuating the tray feeder, said cam and crank pin constituting onestructure, substantially as specified.

9. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a fixed support for thecan trays, a pair of lifters overlapping each other and adapted to actupon opposite portions of the trays, and means for operating saidlifters, substantially as specified.

10. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a fixed support forthe can trays, a pair of lifters overlapping each other and adapted toact upon opposite portions of the can trays, a feeder for moving the cantrays forward on the fixed support and over the lifters, and means foroperating said tray feeder and lifters, substantially as specified.

11. The combination of the can tray support, consisting of the oppositesupporting bars having a space between them, with a tray feeder,consisting of a swinging arm, means for vibrating the same, and a pawlpivoted to said arm and consisting of abroad plate with a convex uppersurface, said pawl occupying the space between the tray supporting bars,and acting directly upon the rear sides of the successive trays,substantially as specified.

12. The combination, in a can tray feeder for can capping machines,ofthe swinging arm, and means for vibrating the same, with a pawl hungto the upper end of said arm, and a set screw serving to limit themovement of the pawl, substantially as specified.

13. The combination of a can capping machine having two parallel rows ofcapping irons, those of one row being laterally ofiset in respect tothose of the other row, with devices for feeding a can tray in adirection at right angles to said rows of capping irons, and a can trayhaving recesses for two rows of cans, the recess for one row beingoffset in respect to that for the other row whereby the rows of cans areparallel with each other and are at right angles to the direction offeed of the tray, the cans of each row being offset in respect to eachother to the same extent as the capping irons, substantially asspecified.

14. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons and their spindles, with an independent shell or casing for eachcapping iron, said shell having all of the bearings for the iron and itsspindle, substantially as specified.

15. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a capping iron and itsspindle, with a shell or casing having all of the bearings for said ironand spindle, said shell being expanded in its lower portion so as toinolose the iron, substantially as specified.

16. The combination in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, a series of shells or casings, one for each iron, each shellhaving bearings for the spindle of its iron, and a shell-carrying baradjustable longitudinally on the frame of the machine so as to accordwith the position of the cans irrespective of the size ofthe latter,substantially as specified.

17. The combination,in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons,a series of shells or casings, one for each iron, each shellhaving bearings for the spindle of its iron, two bars carrying saidshells, and means for adjusting said bars from and toward each other onthe frame of the machine, substantially as specified.

18. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, a-series of shells or'casings,one for each iron, each shellhaving bearings for the spindle of its iron, a bar adjustablelongitudinally on the frame of the machine, and means for securing theshells to said bar so that each is adjustable laterally thereonindependently of the others, substantially as specified.

19. The combination,in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, with shells or casings one for each iron, each shell havingbearings for the spindle of its iron, and a bar having adjustable pinsengaging with said shells or casings to move the same laterally orlongitudinally, but exercising no vertical control over the same,substantially as specified.

20. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, a series of shells or casings, one for each iron, a bulged dooror cover closing an opening in the front of each of said casings, and agas supply pipe having a nozzle projecting through said bulged door orcover, substantially as specified.

21. The combination, in acan capping machine, of a capping iron and acasing inclosing the same, a gas supply pipe,a nozzleleading from saidpipe into the casing and a valve located at the outer end of the nozzleand controlling the flow from the pipe into said nozzle, whereby thestream of gas passing into the nozzle will fill the same before issuingfrom the discharge end, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of incasedcapping irons, gas burners for heating said irons, a chamber receivingthe waste products of combustion from the casings, and gas supply pipescarried through said chamber so as to be heated by the waste products,substantially as speci- 23. The combination, in a can capping machine,of the capping iron with a series of rigid, outwardly flaring anddownwardly projecting fingers, disposed around the iron, so as to engagewith the upper edge of a can and center the same, before the ironcommences to act, substantially as specified.

24;. The combination,in a can capping machine, of a capping iron havingan inclosing shell or casing and rigid outwardly flaring fingersprojecting downward from said casing and serving to act upon the upperedge of a can so as to center the same prior to the action of thecapping iron, substantially as specified.

25. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, mechanism for presenting the cans to the irons, a shaft havingmeans for operating said mechanism, a second shaft combined with meansfor r0- tating the capping irons, and a duplex clutch whereby one shaftis operated on the movement of the handle in one direction, and theother shaft on the movement of the handle in the opposite direction,substantially as specified. v

26. The combination,in a can tray feeding device for can cappingmachines, of aswinging arm having an adjustable slide, and a pawl forengaging with a can tray, a shaft having a crank pin, and a rodconnected at one end to said crank pin and at the other end to theadjustable slide of the feed arm, substantially as specified.

27. The combination, in can tray feeding devices for can cappingmachines,.of a pivoted arm having a pawl for engaging with the can tray,a pivoted block carried by said'arm, a shaft having a crank pin, and arod connected to said crank pin and having a threaded portion passingthrough the pivoted block on the feed arm and having nuts on oppositesides of said block, substantially as specified.

28. The combination, in a can capping machine, of a series of cappingirons, mechanism I go for presenting the cans to the irons, a shafthaving means for operating said mechanism, a second shaft combined withmeans forrotating the capping irons, and a duplex clutch comprisingwheels or disks with oppositely facing inclines, and an intermediatehandle having pawls, one for engaging with the shoulder presented by theincline of one wheel or disk, and the other for engaging with theshoulder presented by the incline of the other 10 Wheel or disk,substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

THEOPHILUS VAN KANNEL.

Witnesses:

FRANK E. BECHTOLD, JOSEPH H. KLEIN.

